Oklahoma § 12-1824

§ 12-1824.

Provisions applying to court-ordered mediation.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 12. Civil Procedure

The following provisions shall apply to any mediation ordered by

a court pursuant to Section 3 of this act:

1. Mediation shall be a process in which an impartial person,

the mediator, facilitates communication between disputing parties to

promote understanding, reconciliation, and settlement. Participants

shall include the mediator, the parties, interested non-parties or

their representatives, and all others present. The mediator may

meet with participants together or individually;

2. The mediator shall be an advocate for settlement and use the

mediation process to help the parties fully explore any potential

areas of agreement. The mediator shall not serve as a judge and

shall not have authority to render any decisions on any disputed

issues or to force a settlement between the parties;

3. The parties shall be responsible for negotiating any

resolution to a dispute. Parties shall participate in mediation in

good faith, and put forth their best efforts with the intention to

settle all issues if possible. If the parties are unable to settle

all issues, they shall attempt to settle as many issues as possible;

4. No person with any financial or personal interest in the

result of mediation may serve as a mediator. Prior to agreeing to

mediate a dispute, the mediator shall disclose any circumstances

likely to create a presumption of bias or prevent a prompt meeting

with the parties;

5. Mediation sessions shall be private. Persons other than the

parties and interested non-parties and their representatives may

attend only with the consent of the parties, interested non-parties,

and the mediator;

6. Any communication relating to the subject matter of the

dispute made during the mediation process by a participant or any

other person present at the mediation shall be a confidential

communication. No admission, representation, statement, or other

confidential communication made in setting up or in conducting the

mediation shall be admissible as evidence or subject to discovery,

except that, no fact independently discoverable shall be

nondiscoverable solely by virtue of having been disclosed in such

confidential communication. There shall be no stenographic or

electronic record, including audio or video, of the mediation

process unless it is agreed upon by the parties, interested nonparties, and the mediator, and it is not otherwise prohibited by

law. No participant in the mediation proceeding, including the

mediator, shall be subpoenaed or otherwise compelled to disclose any

matter disclosed in the process of setting up or conducting the

mediation proceeding; and

7. No subpoena, summons, complaint, petition, citation, or

other process of any kind may be served upon any person who is at or

near the site of any mediation session and is there because of the

mediation.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 12. Civil Procedure

Added by Laws 1998, c. 321, § 4, eff. Nov. 1, 1998.